A study by UK researchers has found that women who were undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) would rather have twins than not become pregnant at all. Graham S Scotland of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and colleagues note in their report that one quarter of IVF pregnancies in Europe result in twins. Given the increased risks of twin pregnancies to mother and children, many European nations have shifted to a single embryo transfer policy. But in the UK, where local funding may only provide for a single round of IVF treatment, people have been less willing to accept this practice.
Policymakers have debated about whether the decision to have more than one embryo implanted should be a patient choice, or a medical decision.
Scotland and his team surveyed 74 women awaiting IVF, asking them about their relative preferences for having a child with physical impairments, cognitive impairments, visual impairments, early death, premature delivery, or no pregnancy at all.
Overall, women said they would rather have a child with physical impairment, cognitive impairment, or visual impairment than not become pregnant at all, but women preferred not becoming pregnant to having a stillborn child. Women also said they would prefer delivering a child prematurely to not becoming pregnant at all. |
